


New Life After the Thaw

by FireOpal (Raven_At_The_Writing_Desk)



Series: Random Cayrd and Frias [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Horror, M/M, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 10:30:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17958782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_At_The_Writing_Desk/pseuds/FireOpal
Summary: Cayrd and Frias are hired to retrieve a dead spouse. But why is there a deadline for delivery, and what's crawling around their cargo hold now?





	New Life After the Thaw

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the 12 short stories prompt for 2017 'A New Life'

“Tallest mountain on all of Kelta-Zanmar,” Cayrd grumbled as he stuck his hiking pole into the crusty snow, giving him the purchase to pull himself up one more step. “Who buries their wife here?” 

“The snow is supposed ta be good fer preservation.” Frias climbed beside Cayrd, bundled up warmly. Frias felt the cold more keenly than Cayrd, being from a tropical place. His face was completely obscured by a thermal wrap and goggles, Cayrd couldn't even see a stray pink hair from the man’s head. 

Cayrd wasn’t really cold as much as he was wind whipped. The moisture from his breath was freezing in his beard, and the weather, in general, was making this unpleasant. 

“So’s a cryo-tank,” He grumbled. He wished for a face wrap of his own. 

*You’re nearly there,* Elius’ voice said over their coms. *I’m picking up a biosignal about a hundred yards in front of you.*

Cayrd checked his wrist unit and confirmed the coordinates Elius sent them. Cayrd led the charge forward, and Frias followed in his footsteps, his small stature making the climb difficult. They made it and stood over the location where Junka-Pelo was supposed to be enjoying her eternal rest. 

Working quickly, Cayrd and Frias laid out four eight-inch metal disks in the corners of an invisible rectangle. They activated each one, and a thick red beam of light connected the four disks, and crisscrossed, filling in the rectangle. Frias came to stand by Cayrd as he tapped on his wrist unit again. The disks and their red grid began to hiss and sizzle as they melted into the snow, borrowing down. 

“We’re locating the body now,” Cayrd said to Elius. “Lock onto Frias and Me and come get us.” With the shear winds and the lack of a flat surface, the Fire Opal wasn’t able to land or hover very long, which was why Cayrd and Frias had to climb all the way up here. Once they had the location and the body, Pelivlor could fly the ship over, and suck everyone up into the cargo hold with the tractor beam. 

Cayrd’s writ unit beeped as the lasers had found the body of the late Junka-Pelo. Cayrd tapped his unit again and the reading from the lasers changed, and they morphed from heat beams to a force field that enveloped the body. They no sooner indicated the body secured, than the large, V-shaped Fire Opal appeared overhead. Cayrd and Frias shielded their eyes against the intense yellow beam as they were lifted effortlessly into the air, then sucked into the ship. 

Cayrd laid on his back in the cargo hold fighting a wave of nausea. He hated the tractor beam ride. It always made him ill. Frias hovered over him, less affected but the sudden jarring lift of the beam. He’d pulled off his wrap and his usually spiky pink hair was all messed around his face, giving him a frazzled look. He smiled at Cayrd with clear blue eyes, and Cayrd grinned back, feeling water trickle through his beard as the ice melted. 

“There she is!” 

Cayrd sat up to see the three-legged Junka-Olva loping towards them. The wife of Junka-Pelo and their current client looked over the still sealed remains of her deceased spouse. 

“She’s so lovely,” Junka-Olva said clasping three-fingered hands together and beaming down at her wife adoringly. 

“Sure,” Cayrd got up all the way and tapped his wrist unit. Junka-Pelo’s body rose in the air and hovered its way over to a waiting gurney. “So there ya go, One body delivered before the third-day cycle of the standard month.”

“Yes, yes, you did wonderfully. Just as advertised.” Junka-Olva didn’t take her eyes off her wife, as if expecting the dead woman to sit up. Cayrd didn’t get it, why did people like to hang onto the remains of their loved ones? Just chuck him into the nearest furnace and be done with it. He glanced at Frias, wondering. They’d never discussed how they expected their remains to be handled since they were from very different cultures. 

“So, where do ya wanna be dropped off?” Cayrd asked transferring the control of the disks to Junka-Olva. 

“Oh, back to Teppa-8, I want Pelo to wake up on our home satellite.” Junka-Olva looked at her own wrist unit and happily nodded. Cayrd looked at Frias who just shrugged. Cayrd sent the order up to Pelivlor at the helm, and they were off to Teppa-8. 

***

“Well, it ain't the worst place in the universe.” Cayrd looked at the approaching satellite settlement. It had been crafted to resemble a very small planet, complete with an artificial atmosphere inside the protective field. It was very high-end and someplace only the insanely rich chose to live. Frias chuckled beside him. 

“Give me real soil and sun any day,” Frias said and Cayrd agreed. 

“Commander!” Elius’ rushed in flailing their arms, alarm coving their purple face. “Th-the body! It-it m-moved!”

Cayrd and Frias exchanged a look, and armed themselves, hurrying to the small cargo bay. The protective disks were no longer around the body of Junka-Pelo, and her body was missing completely.

“Commander?” Frias asked, sweeping the area with his rifle. Cayrd tapped his com. 

“Olva, there something ya wanna tell me about yer wife?” He said an angry note in his voice. Olva’s face blinked at him on his wrist. 

“Has something happened? Did she wake already?” 

“Wake?” Cayrd looked up as Frias hissed in alarm. 

“Oh, she must be hungry,” Olva grinned sharp predators teeth at him. “Do be careful.” She cut off the transmission.

“H-hungry?” Elius stammered behind them. 

Frias looked at Cayrd and Cayrd set his blaster from stun to kill. 

“Too bad fer her, we ain't delivery to yer door,” Cayrd growled, ready to shot anything that wasn’t his crew on sight.


End file.
